United States v. Altieri

500 F.2d 1165, 61 C.C.P.A. 82
Court of Customs and Patent Appeals·Decided June 27, 1974·No. No. 5514, C.A.D. 1127·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Rich, Judge.

This appeal is from the decision and judgment of the United States Customs Court, Third Division, 68 Cust. Ct. 169, C.D. 4355 (1972), sustaining appellee’s protest against the classification of certain copper tubes imported from Mexico to San Juan, Puerto Rico, under TSUS 613.02 as seamless copper tubes. The Customs Court held the merchandise classifiable under TSUS 666.20 as parts of machinery for use in the manufacture of sugar. We reverse.

The statutes involved are :

10. General Interpretative Rules. For the purposes of these schedules—
(e) in -the absence of special language or context which otherwise requires— (i) a tariff classification controlled by use (other than actual use) is to be determined in accordance with the use in the United States at, or immediately prior to, the date of importation, of articles of that class or kind to which the imported articles belong, and the controlling use is the chief use, i.e., the use which exceeds all other uses (if a.ny) combined;
[83] (ii) a tariff classification controlled by the actual use to which, an imported article is put in the United States is satisfied only if such use is intended at the time of importation, the article is so used, and proof thereof is furnished within 3 years after the date the article is entered;
(ij) a provision for “parts” of an article covers a product solely or chiefly used as a part of such article, hut does not prevail over a specific provision for such part.
Glass iflecl under:
Schedule 6, TSUS — Metals and Metal Products $ * ❖ * * •' # #
Part 2. — Metals, Their Alloys, and Their Basic Shapes and Forms
Part 8 headnotes:
1. This part covers precious metals and base metals * * *, their alloys, and their so-called basic Shapes and forms, and, in addition, covers metal waste and scrap. * * * This part does not include—
(iv) other articles specially provided for elsewhere in -the tariff schedules, or parts of articles.
Subpart C. — Copper
Suhpart 0 headnotes:
1. This subpart covers copper, its alloys, and their so-called basic shapes and forms, 'and in addition covers copper waste and scrap.
Pipes and tubes and blanks therefor, pipe and tube fittings, all the foregoing of copper:
Pipes and tubes and blanks therefor:
Item Copper, other than alloys of coppfer:
613.02 Seamless_:_ 5.20 per lb.
Claim Sustained hy Court Below:
Schedule 6, TSUS — Metals and Metal Products
Part 4. — -Machinery and Mechanical Equipment Part headnotes:
1. This part does not cover—
(v) articles and parts of articles specifically provided for elsewhere in the schedules.
Subpart C.-Agricultural and Horticultural Machinery ;
Machinery for Preparing Food and Drink
Industrial machinery for preparing and manufacturing food or drink, and parts thereof:
Item Machinery for use in the manufacture of 666.20 sugar, and parts thereof_ Free

[84] The merchandise consists of approximately 8100 seamless copper tubes, six feet, 6% inches long, 16 gauge, 1% inch outside diameter, with their ends annealed. The importer-appellee, Antonio Roig Suce-sores, ordered the tubes for use in new evaporators it had purchased but which it had received in incomplete condition, without the tubes. The evaporators were, to replace old ones used in its sugar manufacturing plant. Each evaporator consisted of an enclosed vessel with a heat exchanger in the bottom. The heat exchangers were made up of copper tubes fixed between plates so that'steam could flow around the tubes while juice extracted from the sugar cane flowed through them to be heated. The ends of the tubes were annealed to soften the copper so that the ends could be flanged in assembling the tubes with the plates.

The Customs Court ordered the parties to file supplemental briefs directed to the following question:

Is the TSUS item 666.20 classification for “Machinery for use in the manufacture of sugar, and parts thereof” a classification controlled by rule of “chief use” or controlled by rule of “actual use” under [General Interpretative Rule] 10(e) supra,!

On that matter the court concluded:

The legislative history, cited su,pra [Tariff Glassification Study, Submitting Report, Part II, pages 5, 14, Appendix A, page 50, November 15 1960], and in the supplemental briefs, discussing the problems attending tariff classifications by “chief use” and “actual use”, in our opinion, is too indefinite and uncertain to resolve that TSUS item 666.20 is an “actual use” provision as plaintiff contends. Since TSUS item 666.20 is in the same classifying language as paragraph 1604 of the Tariff Act of 1930, from which TSUS item 666.20 is derived, we are constrained to follow the established judicial construction that as classified in paragraph 1604, United States v. Union Sugar Div., Consolidated Foods Corp., 54 CCPA 1, C.A.D. 892 (1966), and TSUS item 666.20, S. Jackson & Son, McCandless, Inc. v. United States, 65 Cust. Ct. 327, C.D. 4097 (1970), “machinery for use in the manufacture of sugar” is a classification by “chief use.”

The court then held that “the imported tubes which were designed and dedicated for sole use with machinery used in the manufacture of sugar are parts of said machinery and sustained] the protest.” It rejected appellant’s contention that there was no evidence that the imported tubes were in a class of tubes which were solely or chiefly used in heat exchanges of evaporators chiefly used in the manufacture of sugar. The court justified its position that proof that the evaporators were of a class or kind chiefly used in the manufacture of sugar was unnecessary by stating:

* * * the rule of chief use, when and if applicable, is a rule for classifying imported articles, and the imported articles in this case are tubes not evaporators.

[85] It then stated that “it is fair to infer” upon the record that appellee’s “evaporator is an integral component of its aggregate machinery, used in the manufacture of sugar.”

OPINION

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United States v. Altieri, 500 F.2d 1165, 61 C.C.P.A. 82 (ccpa 1974).

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